CSR initiatives for banks are evolving towards delivering sustainable financial services and adequate coverage to under-banked populaces in developing communities who live beyond the poverty line. We interviewed Sreeram Iyer, COO for ANZ Bank‘s Institutional Banking Business to get a penny for his thoughts on growing role of banks in the quest for financial inclusivity in Asia. Can you give us a quick introduction …

By Susan Long Michael Lien may be the grandson of one of Singapore’s richest men and with a gilded career of his own as a corporate financier, but he has set himself the task of tackling something far removed from his own experience – rural poverty in Indochina. The 51-year-old is founder of Leap201, which seeks to help poor farmers …

Could you live without cash for a week, a month, a year? Abhishant Pant, described by local news as “The Cashless Man of India,” challenged himself to prove it is possible to live without cash where he lives in India. Here, he shares his experience after 200 days on his cashless journey. By Abhishant Pant, Founder, Cashless Journey As …

In April 2016, the Financial Inclusion Summit Asia brought together a group of regional stakeholders to discuss critical challenges and best practises on charting inroads into Asian financial inclusion roadmap for e-payments and mobile banking. We welcomed 100 senior delegates and speakers from the Pan-Asian financial services leveraging a regional outlook for greater thought leadership perspectives. In 2017, we are …

Introduction The mobile financial services revolution has already demonstrated the power that technology has to reach the underserved on an unprecedented scale. But in addition to distributing products farther and wider than ever before, innovative use of technology creates efficiencies that allow providers to service their customers better. Technology can enable the industry to shift towards client centricity, creating …

Ahead of his presentation at the Financial Inclusion Summit, we caught up with Achmad Nusjirwan Sugondo, Senior Vice President at Bank Tabungan Pensiunan Nasional (BTPN). During our conversation we discussed the role of traditional financial institutions in making financial inclusion a reality. Can you give us a quick introduction to the work that BTPN does for financial inclusion Indonesia? BTPN has …

Guest post: This piece is authored by Roya Mahboob, CEO of Afghan Citadel Software and founder of the Digital Citizen Fund. Imagine a world where boys and girls learn side-by-side, no matter the circumstances of their environment and surroundings. The opportunities provided by internet access and education are equally available to everyone and the individual dreams of every child were within the …

The 2016 Financial Inclusion Summit was a resounding success when it ran back in April. Here are the top 10 takeaways from the show, some food for thought as we look forward to the 2017 edition: Microfinance institutions are generally experiencing very high repayment rates of between 95-99%. On average the top 100 most profitable microfinance institutions worldwide have an average …